Odisha Assembly passes GST Bill, 2017

By Ratikant Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, May 19: Odisha Legislative Assembly on Friday passed the Odisha Goods and Service Tax Bill, 2017 that provides for simplification of tax administration.

The Assembly also passed the Odisha Value Addeed Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which allows the state government to impose VAT only on six items.

The two bills were passed on the concluding the day of the two-day special session of the Assembly.

Finance minister Sashi Bhusan Behera while initiating the debate in the special session of Odisha assembly said the GST will unify at least 17 central and state taxes together and products manufactured in the states as well as in the country could compete with products in the international market.

“GST will help extend tax network and bring improvement in the tax administration,” Mr Behera said. In a clarification,” Mr Behera said

The GST takes care of 17 different taxes, Mr Behera said.

While Opposition BJP Legislature Party leader K V Singhdeo complimented the state government for bringing the GST Bill for passing in the assembly, Congress demanded that the Bill be sent to select committee for further deliberation.

Congress member Naba Kishore Das argued that since GST Council is all powerful, the state government will not be a position to protect its interest. He advocated for a 4-day special session to discuss the GST Bill after it got nod of the select committee.

BJD chief whip Amar Prasad Satpathy, however, praised the NDA government for passing of the GST Bill in Parliament.

“While the UPA-I and UPA-II could not bring consensus on the Bill, the NDA government did it,” Mr Satpathy said, adding, the Centre had assured to compensate the state’s loss for implementation of GST.